Thursday, February 18, 2016

Where are the Democratic endorsements coming from?

The ground is full of political movement in Virginia. The Washington Post has an interesting article describing how a sitting governor of Virginia and fundraising star for the Clintons is pulling out all the stops to ensure the he can "deliver the state" to Hilary. The story is replete with examples of ordinary people talking about how they're going to vote for Hilary. It is also heavy with examples of government officials, including the governor, working for and endorsing Hilary.

On the other hand, young Clinton supporters are getting "the look" when they wear their Hilary t-shirts at school or at social functions. That look says that it's not cool to go with Hilary. Apparently, they're calling support for Bernie Sanders a fad. Oh, and the Clinton supporters are saying that Bernie is promising free stuff to everyone. Sorry, kids. It's not free. It's paid for with taxes. Even Bernie will admit that on his website and in the legislation he's written and sponsored in Congress. But someone isn't telling the kids that Sanders knows and has said all along that what he is proposing is paid for with taxes.

Virginia is one of the biggest states for delegates in the coming weeks. Each candidate needs delegates to win the nomination at the convention. The more votes they get at the primary, the more delegates they get for the nomination. Both camps are working hard to swing Virginia in their favor. Notably, Sanders has been closing a seemingly insurmountable lead maintained by Clinton. But it is apparent to both camps that if the millenials come out to vote, there is a very real possibility that Sanders could win that state. It might even be a bit of an embarrassment for Clinton if there were a tie.

That is what I could glean from one Washington Post article. But I began to wonder, how have they done with endorsements from elected officials? A casual search turned up this page, the FiveThirtyEight website has compiled a tally of endorsements for all candidates here. To look at the score between Clinton and Sanders is actually rather startling. Clinton has 462 and Sanders has 2.

From that, we're supposed to think that Clinton is the better candidate? Looks more like the Clinton supporters are circling their wagons to ensure a victory. Remember that these endorsements are from Democratic Party elites. Most if not all of them have played the money primary game. You know, they go to the millionaires and billionaires and ask for money. For years if not decades, those party elites have been listening to the wealthy rather than the rest of us.

This is something to remember when looking at endorsements. If they're taking big money for their campaigns, they're probably not listening to the rest of us. Bernie isn't taking big money from anyone except in increments averaging around $27. While Bill and Hilary attend $500 or $1000 a plate fundraisers, Bernie is filling stadiums with ordinary people who don't have very much money, and they just want an economy that works for everyone. That is the defining difference between Bernie Sanders and Hilary Clinton.

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